Would The Modern 'Star Wars' Fandom Have Cancelled 'The Clone Wars'?
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Back in 2008, George Lucas released his animated Magnum Opus. Completely self-funded The Clone Wars (series and movie) explored the missing years between the prequels. George Lucas used the 2003 Clone Wars series as a template but changed the animation style. It was also the first project for David Filoni, who was initially hired to direct the film, but then went on to act as Supervising Director for later series. The Clone Wars is now one of the most loved and most plauded pieces in the franchise. But when it first launched, the fandom ripped it to shreds.
What Did the Fandom Say They Disliked?
There were some genuine reasons for fans to be inflamed. The Clone Wars movie was essentially a TV episode arc stitched together and given a cinematic release. As a result, the pacing was all off and it lacked the glitz of Hollywood. Lucasfilm should have dropped this with the series instead.
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But the biggest complaint fans had was that it retconned lore from the Expanded Universe. And they did have a point. Disney did not rebrand the Expanded Universe as Legends until 2014, so in 2008 everyone considered the Expanded Universe to be settled canon. The Clone Wars changed backstories and brought dead Jedi back to life. Many were angry that characters they had invested time and money in had been so carelessly handled. However, Marvel and DC alter their histories all the time, especially in the comics. It’s the only way to keep producing content in a universe where the characters are reused so often. Perhaps Star Wars fans should have seen this coming.
But some of the complaints around storytelling were all down to a refusal to let the plot play out. Anakin’s new apprentice, Ahsoka Tano was widely despised when she first arrived on screen. She was seen as the ‘new Jar Jar.’ There had been no hint in any of the books or movies that Anakin had an apprentice, and it was claimed she was an attempt to crowbar another female into the show. But characters have arcs, and for them to grow and evolve they must start at a place where they are imperfect. Between Ashley Einstein’s performance and the superior writing on the show, she grew into a favorite that also shone in live-action.
There were also accusations that the Anakin portrayed in The Clone Wars was vastly different from that of the prequels. However nowadays fans claim that The Clone Wars fleshed out Anakin’s fall to the dark side, so it looks as if the fandom changed its mind on that one, just like Ahsoka.
How Was It Received?
David Filoni’s The Clone Wars movie was panned online, by critics and fans alike. It took $68.3 million worldwide against a thankfully modest $8.5 million budget, but that still made it the lowest-grossing Star Wars movie of all time. This was partially thanks to the grilling it received over social media (via Blogger, MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo). And it was just as savage back then as it is now.
The Clone Wars movie only rated at 19% (critics) and 40% (users) on Rotten Tomatoes. To put this into perspective, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure ranks 25% (critics) and 43% (users). To say that everyone reviewed and discussed it fairly and honestly just isn’t true. Fans vented their anger at the retconning, (which later somewhat forced Disney to declare the entire EU as not canon) and the inclusion of Ahsoka out online and others followed their lead and didn’t turn up to theatres as a result.
What Could We Have Lost?
George Lucas funded The Clone Wars himself, so he proceeded with the project despite reviews. But a cancellation could have been the end of David Filoni’s association with Star Wars. David Filoni was the Supervising Director on Star Wars: Rebels (which fans also hated when it first aired), The Mandalorian, Tales of The Jedi/Empire, The Book of Boba Fett (okay that one was genuinely bad), and Ahsoka. Filoni also executive produced Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and he’s also the voice of Chopper.
Without Filoni there would be no Cad Bane, Hera Syndulla, Bo-Katan Kryze, Grogu, Ahsoka Tano, or Sabine Wren. He designed all of them. Later seasons of The Clone Wars flourished as writers bedded in, styles were established and plots were allowed to develop. Filoni’s light touches with the Mortis arc brought it into the heart of Star Wars. Fans now actively look for his easter eggs in other projects. Filoni is now considered such a safe hand for the future of Star Wars that he has risen to LucasFilm’s Creative Director and has been entrusted with the franchise's first feature film in seven years (since Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of the Skywalker).
Image Source: Mr Movie
Has The Fandom Done This Before?
In a word, yes.
It was impossible for a Star Wars fan to say they liked The Phantom Menace without getting mocked until very recently. Star Wars: Rebels was ripped apart when it was first released, but the fandom changed its mind, and Solo: A Star Wars Story appears to now be going through its redemption era. But the surest way to start a fight in a Star Wars group chat is to bring up the sequels.
However, there’s a new point of contention in town, and that is The Acolyte. This has triggered some of the most aggressive behaviour from the fandom since the days of Jar Jar Binks and Ahmed Best (who deserved better). It’s one thing to not like a project, it’s another to personally attack the creators and stars, and any content creators that post positively about it.
Was The Acolyte bad? We might not objectively know until our passions have cooled. But users have rated it 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Star Wars Holiday Special is sitting at 25%. Do we honestly think that’s fair?
It’s a small group of very vocal fans leading the aggressive behaviour. But targeting actors and encouraging people not to watch is only going to lead to less Star Wars content. And we’ve already seen it happen.
George Lucas continued with The Clone Wars, but Disney is very trigger-happy about cancelling shows and movies that have been slated online. The promising plot of Solo: A Star Wars Story was not continued, and The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi have both been shelved. These don’t seem to relate to viewing figures as both these series received higher than the widely praised Andor. It’s clear that if The Clone Wars had been made by the current regime, it would not have survived its grilling.
Whether you enjoyed the Acolyte or not, its cancellation means that we will not get to see Darth Plagueis, or deep dive into the High Republic for some time, as nothing else currently in production touches on that timeline. It remains to be seen what The Acolyte could have become given time and space to develop. Thankfully George Lucas believed in The Clone Wars or we would be looking at a very different franchise.
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